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Dr. Gerard M. Nadal: Science in Service of the Pro-Life Movement

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« Today’s Betrayal of Women by the Female Bloc on SCOTUS
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Presidential Politics: Idolatry Masquerading as Conscience

July 22, 2016 by Gerard M. Nadal

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The following is a post I made on FaceBook earlier today. It speaks for itself.

I’m sure the following will cause many to unfriend me. So be it.

No, Trump didn’t mention abortion. Do I wish that he had? I’m at the stage in life where I think it doesn’t matter. All the other Republicans mention abortion and most do nothing once they get into office. Reagan was willing to go to bat for a Constitutional Amendment that included a rape clause. This split the pro-life community so badly that Reagan walked away. At least 40 million humans would be with us today had such an amendment passed, and in the intervening years we could have been working to save the rest not covered in the initial amendment.

There is such a thing as making an idol of one’s conscience and blinding oneself to the wealth of good that can be done, all because one cannot get 100% of what their conscience demanded. Rather than see the 99 babies saved, if they can’t have 100, they’ll stand on conscience and reject the offer of the lives of the 99.

That’s not fidelity.

That’s idolatry.

Even Lincoln knew he couldn’t get everything he wanted for slaves in one Amendment, so he settled for abolishing slavery in the 13th Amendment, realizing that citizenship would have to wait for a later day. It came with the 14th Amendment.

In this election, either Trump or Clinton will be elected. We are called to limit evil and promote as much good as we can. After the past 8 years, there is little doubt what a Clinton Presidency will mean. The Democrats decided to elect a Messiah eight years ago, and it was a disaster. Now conservative intellectuals are making the same mistake in rejecting Trump and sitting it out.
We elect humans, with all of their frailties, not angels or saints. Trump wouldn’t have been my first, fifth, or tenth choice. But Trump at his worst is orders of magnitude better than Clinton at her best.

We are also not electing a king. We need to elect people to Congress who will actually use the system of checks and balances at their disposal to rein in whomever gets elected. So, to those who make the perfect the enemy of the good, I say that’s the litmus test for turning conscience into an idol.

Let the unfriending begin

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Posted in Abortion | 12 Comments

12 Responses

  1. on July 22, 2016 at 8:54 AM Debi Vinnedge

    Spot on Gerald…I agree 1000%!


  2. on July 22, 2016 at 9:08 AM Nikki

    Thank you, that is the point I have tried to make with some so called friends.


  3. on July 22, 2016 at 10:22 AM Linda S.

    Well said!
    I won’t unfriend you. 😉


  4. on July 22, 2016 at 12:19 PM Kathy Raimondi

    I could not agree with you more! Still your friend!! My only wonderment in this election is how can anyone even consider voting for Clinton? She represents all that is evil about our culture, most of all blatant and outright death to the most vulnerable brothers and sisters in the womb. I remember when Obama was running, one of his fundraisers called and started spouting off about all of the “wonderful” things about him. I reminded him that Barack Obama is the most pro-death candidate EVER and cited his senate record as well as his campaign rhetoric. I shared that he even voted against the Born Alive Protection Act. The caller admitted that he didn’t know any of this, so I referred him to a pro life website. 50% of this country does not think that the candidates stance on life matters – I believe that it’s the ONLY thing that matters. PLEASE keep saying what you believe – some may hate you for the truth, but the One who won’t abandon you is God! (And He’s the only One who matters anyway)


  5. on July 22, 2016 at 2:42 PM Sovereign Mary

    People who wish and want for nothing but perfection from a candidate or a politician will not at all ever get that wish or want fulfilled.


  6. on July 22, 2016 at 2:46 PM Mary Harrison

    I agree Gerald I said if I had to choose between Hillary and Donald I would run away. I will support Donald Trump in this election. Like you he would not have been my choice but I am hoping he can make a difference.


  7. on July 22, 2016 at 3:43 PM Patricia

    Thank you for a common sense summary of why we need to vote for Trump. Like you, he was last on my list, but with the alternative being Hillary, I have to put my faith in God and vote for and pray for this man who has raised amazing children, and who genuinely seems to love the country. I don’t really know who he is, but I know who Hillary is, and the latter terrifies me. Sadly, many Catholics are taking the all or nothing approach, and I fear Hillary will indeed be our next president. God help us!!


  8. on July 22, 2016 at 3:50 PM Terry Williams

    Well said. I, too, was not a Trump supporter in the primaries, but now the choice is clear.

    I have heard the grumbling comments of pro’lifers concerned about Trump not mentioning abortion in his speech. To those good people, i say look at the party platform. The Republican party still ts solidly in the pro-life camp. It is imperative, due to the current vacancy, and the possible vacancies, on the Supreme Court that we elect a President who will appoint conservative justices, and Donald Trump has made that pledge. I am not concerned with what a Trump presidency will mean for the pro-life movement, and I would hope that others who oppose abortion will look beyond the convention podium.


  9. on July 22, 2016 at 8:35 PM sentenil

    Reagan did not support an exception for rape, that is a fiction: http://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/SOTU_RR_Abortion.htm

    [Sentenil: He used the life of the mother exception, and others in Congress added Rape and Incest. In the end it doesn’t matter, because the fight was between the pragmatists and the faction that said 100% or nothing at all. So, we got nothing at all, and there are over 40 million humans who paid the price for that vanity, paying with their lives. ~G.N.]


  10. on July 22, 2016 at 9:29 PM Roz

    My concerns about Mr. Trump are a little different. I question the soundness of his mental statem. With the erasure of many previous limits on Executive branch powers during Pres. Obama’s terms, I have significant concerns about what might happen during a Trump administration. That’s the source of my reservations of conscience.

    However, I hear your strong points loud and clear, and I’m very aware of the disaster that is Hillary. Thanks for posting.


  11. on July 23, 2016 at 7:54 AM Jennifer Snell

    Thank you for this excellent presentation. I am with you 100%! We suffer the same problem in Canada where some pro-lifers want 100% of babies saved with any legislative initiative. Some reject any legislation that does not save all the babies and, yes the result is division in the pro-life world. satan is laughing at this division and in the meantime millions of babies are being murdered. What I detest most is the accusation that those who support ‘limiting the evil one step at a time’ are permitting the killing of babies.


  12. on July 24, 2016 at 10:12 AM Maxime N. DiGent

    I don’t think we’re friends, so I can’t unfriend (and wouldn’t, just for a disagreement). I will settle for saying that I find your argument unpersuasive. Idolatry is a word I would use rather for the Trump Cult.

    None of us is omniscient, and only history will judge who voted rightly. Each of us must make the best decision with can with the evidence we have–i.e., vote our conscience. We should never vote any other way.



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